call me to order please adequate notice that this meeting was provided in accordance with chapter 231 Public Law 1975 good evening everybody let's have invitation please put medic excuse me excuse me meditation but also I'd like to make a comment uh we lost a uh employee this past week Steve moris who is a personal friend of mine and also work for public works I worked with him for many years at my company of cane Steel and he was a good man and uh just like to let you all know that um they'd be Sly missed so with that let's say salute you please sir thank you I to the flag of the United States of America and to the for it stands na indivisible withy and jusice for all commissioner Al here commissioner L here commissioner s here commission Maran here commissioner Taylor pres deputy director Romero here director SEO here do I have a motion in second to accept and dispense with the reading of the minutes from the last public meeting second all favor New Jersey transit public hearing notice received January 30th 2024 concerning proposed Fair changes to increase fees by no more than 15% affected July 1st 2024 with future annual Fair increases of no more than 3% a list of hearing dates and locations can be made available upon request for the for obtain from New Jersey New Jersey transit.com hearing notice of filing and public hearing for the South Jersey Gas dated February 15 2024 in the matter of petition of South Jersey Gas Company for approval of new energy efficient programs and Associated cost recovery pursuant to the clean energy act U docket number q1 91004 and go2 90618 do I have a motion and second to open public comment on resolution items only Mo second all in favor before we start um public comment it's been stated to us that because there's been some feedback from the public that uh being able to complete their questions has been unfair to most because they don't get their 5 minutes in so with that we're going to have have anybody who comes up will speak through five minutes ask their questions after we're completed then we will then have the answers given to you either directly from some of the Departments and or at a later date um if necessary where we can't have we don't have the answers at the particular time so after that um we can move on to public [Applause] com uh good evening Dean H uper derfield uh resolution uh 202 4132 it's a resolution establishing Comm P operational subcommittee and appointing members somebody give us a little more information what these people are expected to actually do and if it is to be design and and and figure out how to make the thing I I should hope some line workers would be in there okay any other questions no thank you thank you Mr anyone else please okay motion to close second all in favor [Music] yes [Music] ohy INX again contct provid a middle mile program Engineering Services for the cumland and Sal 352,000 a couple questions question number one would [Applause] be whether they do the work or not they get this much money and if this gr doesn't come through the way we're coming through we responsible foring this much money that's my question thank you thank you Mrs rway all right now it's already officially closed so we didn't know that Mrs R was on so we made an exception for this point all right um at that point let's move on and resolutions you want us to provide the respons I I was going to say would you like now or after the resolutions are pleasure okay my pleasure then let's read the resolutions and then we'll consent may not remember what the question I have my priv today we're good consent resolutions with voting on resolutions all matters listed under the consent agenda are considered to be routine in nature and having been reviewed by the board of County Commissioners will be enacted by one motion any item may be removed from the consent agenda at the request of any commission board member and if so removed will be treated as a separate matter any items requiring expenditure are supported by C certification of availability of funds do I have a motion in second to vote by consent agenda on resolutions 2024-25 so move second do we have any questions comments or discussions on the consent resolutions okay Commissioners you have one and a half minutes to make a comment anybody [Applause] okay motion Clos okay commissioner Al yes commissioner loads yes commissioner marshan yes commissioner Soro yes commissioner Taylor yes deputy director Romero yes director SEO yes do I have a motion and second to adopt resolutions 2024 1118 through 2024 d152 by consent so move second you have any discussion comments I I have one comment this is on the number this is on the the on 30 di 130 dive I thought was be taken off but it's St 139 I hope in the future that and I was told that it's this is a past bill we pay which just fine but I hope for the future that we actually do this in house I've expressed that to the director to our solicitor and which now we have an extra solicitor assistant solicitor we should be able to do this and save the money and use it in our own you know keep the money and use it in uh for our budget U this I was told this this uh bill is ranged from 30,000 this is 10,550 so if it would be a a significant savings or at least a savings to the county it's still that's a lot of money so okay thank you so not to commissioner thank you any other questions or comments commissioner Al yes commissioner loads yes commission marshan yes commissioner s commissioner Taylor yes deputy director Romero yes director Soo yes okay I'd like to appro the two questions so we don't forget the questions were all right so the first one was for resolution number 132 this is the one sure I'll take a shot you like so this proposed Regional involves representatives of boster Salem and Cumberland and uh certainly at that there is an agreement that the stakeholders need to be involved that of course would include uh local police uh cors officers um prosecutors public defenders um at this point in the very nent stages there are the wardens are meeting and uh I was tasked with tagging along with them back I'm at Salem County jail tomorrow um and they are talking about what this jail needs to have what services what design Etc um so that would be a very initial starting point of the the needs um in the meantime uh there is a working group set up uh which talks about the money and the uh formulation of the entity that's going to have to go to um local government Finance board for approval um tonight uh part of uh the agenda is the resolution that would authorize the reimbursement or expenditure funds towards a grant for putting this together um a Le Grant such as we had before as well as for uh architectural work and also for engineering work regard to the proposed setup of the jail the question was um who would be involved and the answer is uh eventually all those stakeholders need to be a part of it but you're at the very early stages where you haven't gotten to an architect stage or a planning stage you we've had one meeting thus far with all the um wardens present and part of that group uh is reporting up so the notes of that group were forwarded to the main group to try to you also mention about the statute statute statute that has been uh applied by the state recently about absolutely the Perpetual ownerships yeah so when we started uh there was a kind of a clunky older Regional Authority statute that we were working with since that time um at the end of 2023 there became a new statute that calls for local government Finance board approval calls for an entity to take it to do its own bonds have its own Council have its own jar Department um essentially stand on its old two feet so as we started down this road the playing field shifted a bit and of course not where we want to be but appear that we're first in line uh to go down this road which is of course fund hopefully would be appropriate because we're trying to car a there was some question the last week solicitor about ownership of the land sure ownership over so yeah the first entity the the first statute talks about a duration the new statute as it's been updated is perpetual and that means that there is no end date so there was question I think about land or about the investment and of course the truth is it will be it will wind up being contractual but there is no end date so it's not crumber and putting money in and then we're going to be kicked out and let me be very clear my experience here on behalf of kemin you've been hurt sometimes by shared services agreements because of course they rely on excess capacity and the willingness to make that available right to our County and we had uh at least one agreement that I can think of where without capacity is of no utility to us whatsoever to system way this is not a shared service this is we're all in it together right I think that satisfies anyone else can I that's that's pretty much aners your question yeah may I just pass something um we have four parties three correct Three Counties Three Counties that are currently saying they interest okay it's the vinage of 15 of the Three Counties which plays together um it's very that's very important and basically what it's you're looking at a jail is pre-existing you're looking at a jail that basically you're adding on to and you're making renovations to so and this now it becomes whole ownership in a sense to all Three Counties which now reduces the cost because nobody makes any money having a jail in their County so therefore we're investigating um the way this particular jail should be modeled now because the needs are going to be a little bit different and we are going to basically hopefully uh put some reduction to our costs uh by county by county and these are the things that we're looking at this board is considering all these particular things along with what they would like to see in this new particular jail what kind of um safeguards do you have where let's say one of the counties changes political parties and goes yeah we don't want anything this has nothing to do with being political pardon has nothing to being political what kind of what kind of one count is already Democrat Republic doesn't matter if I may the way the statute is designed um we're all we're all in if a county wants out they would have to negotiate with two counties it's it's like it's like anything else any the contract and lastly I'll I'll since we yeah I really don't want to to do too much back and forth it was a key it's a key to that that everybody was together as a partner not we're not shared it's not a contract it's we're together and this is a partnership wejoy so and the tiebreaker is the party that brings the most inmates to the table which regrettably we ar we fortunate thank you okay thank you very much thank you Mr car okay um the other one was uh 168 if I'm not mistaken how much and who's responsible was the basis of the question who's asking if this cut that we we did get the money we did get the money and we can withdraw at any time right now all right so yeah so let me so whe the first question was whether if they do the work or not will they to the money the answer is no we only pay when services are rendered and this this contract is a maximum not to exceed as far as proceeding with any work we control that so while we award the contract they can't proceed until we tell them to do something um so there's and maybe this isn't in appropriate way of saying we hold the leash in that way so uh as far as any payment of funds the 3.5 million is about 2.5 of that is the federal share the balance is the match of which Cumberlands is around 600 and then Sals is around 400 um so as far as drawing down any federal funds we're allowed to uh request in advance within 30 days if we know when the bill is going to be coming doing with the amount is so we are able to draw down at that point and then invoy s them for their share and then at that point then we can cut the check that way it's we're not advancing any money on anyone else's behalf well we're not holding it back because this is part of the process of hard this is the next step hard design Ed or this is the the after we had the r our our Ed consultant heart we're to the designed part and the buddy is this is all part of that project that we put in and that's where that's where the G The Bu commissioner go ahead okay I I think what's important to to note to everybody we're not paying somebody $3 million 35 million we're not paying anybody $3.5 million this is only saying that the money is accessible we're only going to be paying the jobs that they do so this is just making the funds available it does not mean you spending the whole amount okay and that's very important that this process is moving along slowly and that if we need something done we have the funds to do it we have them do it and then what we do is we pay them as we go along is that correct with I think that is what's important to the people comeing we're being fiscally responsible for the money that will be spent to see what was voted in last year is a actual feasible project and that's pretty much the the nuts and bolts of at all Is it feasible the engineers are now going to give us those answers and then we know where we need to go in the future that's pretty much in a nutshell okay anybody else have any comments Commissioners okay thank you guys resolution 20241 153 resolution authorizing and approving additional temporary budget Appropriations in the amount of 5,932 28112 do I have a motion in second second questions or comments commissioner Al yes commissioner Lo yes commissioner Soro yes commissioner Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes deputy director May yes director Au sry the you start mention the names resolution 2024 d154 resolution awarding fa and Open professional service contract for providing Council services for the cumland county thing board RP number 2368 res submission do I have a motion and second move second questions or comments commissioner Al yes commissioner LS yes commissioner Soro yes commissioner Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes deputy director Romero yes director SEO yes resolution 202 24-15 resolution authorizing purchase from the New Jersey state contract vendor for up Network upgrade a barant system for the cumland county 911 Communication Center do I have a motion and second second questions or comments commissioner Al yes commissioner LS yes commissioner Soro yes commissioner Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes deputy director Amer yes director SEO yes resolution 202 24-16 resolution authorizing an amendment to the shared service agreement with commercial Township concerning the replacement of a county owned bridge on Miller Avenue with commercial to ship do I have a motion and second so move second questions or comments commissioner ALB yes commissioner luds yes commissioner Soro commissioner Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes deputy director Romero yes director SEO yes resolution 20241 157 resolution authorizing application to grant funding from the Attorney General's office for the state fiscal year 2024 alternative responses to reduce instances of violence and escalation together grant program do I have a motion and second move second questions or comments commissioner Albert yes commissioner LS yes commissioner Sor yes commissioner Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes deputy director Romero yes director Soo yes resolution 20241 158 resolution authorizing local Recreation Improvement Grant application do I have a motion and second move second questions comments commissioner Al yes commissioner LS yes commissioner SAR yes commissioner Maron yes commissioner Taylor yes deputy director Romero yes director SEO yes resolution 20241 159 resolution authorizing execution of a grant agreement with the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs for recreational opportunities for individuals with disabilities Grant do I have a motion and second so move second questions or comments commissioner albre yes commissioner luds yes commissioner Soro yes commissioner marshan yes commissioner Taylor yes deputy director Romero yes director Soo yes resolution 202 24-16 resolution authorizing the award of a non-fair and open contract for providing professional legal services in the matter of Emanuel Thomas Anderson versus Cumberland County at all US District Court District of New Jersey docket number 1 col 22- cd-6 2 35 do I have a motion and second so move second questions or comments commissioner Al yes commissioner LS yes commission Soro yes commission Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes deputy director Romero yes director SEO yes resolution 202 202 24-1 161 resolution amending resolution 2024 1113 authorizing an amendment to the shared service agreement with commercial commercial Township for resurfacing of a county-owned roadway within commercial township do I have a motion and second so move second questions or comments commissioner Al yes commissioner luds yes commissioner Soro yes commissioner marshan yes commissioner Taylor yes deputy director Romero yes director Soo yes resolution 202462 resolution authorizing a memorandum of agreement between PBA local number 299s and the county of crumberland's office for 4 years effective January 1st 20124 through December 31st 2027 do I have a motion and second move second questions or comments I like to make a comment the uh on these this is the uh we' had a couple UNS that we've given contracts to I want to congratulate the staff because we got a few more being settled as we're going this it's not been a easy year cuz I think five in a row we're doing five in a row you're going to see two of them um actually three this is U uh a good step and it's actually going to put us a great footing for the for the future uh the county cuz we're getting them all out of the way and we'll be able to concentrate what we have to do to improve them as we go uh so I would say yes U and thank you for doing that I have a very small comment the comment is I just told it to Mr haulk a few moments ago by come is going to be and this is one of the the things that I want to give kudos to our departments and to the leg the attorneys who are handling these cases um this particular board feels like there's a store manager at Shop Right and basically what they have seen in the last year or so is a clamp in aisle one clean up an aisle 2 clean up an a 4 clean up an a 12 and we're finally getting those CL taken care of getting the stop the stop back on the shelves again and helping the community and helping our employees in the county and I just want to say you guys did a great job along with all the Commissioners who have been supportive of our Administration so I want to just thank you all any further questions or comments commissioner Al yes commissioner Lo yes commissioner Sor commission marshan yes commissioner Taylor yes deputy director Romero yes director Soo yes resolution 2024 163 resolution authorizing a memorandum of agreement between upsu the county of Cumberland and the prosecutor's office for 5 years effective January 1st 2024 through December 31st 2028 do I have a motion in second move second questions or comments commissioner albre yes commissioner loads yes commissioner Soro yes commissioner marshan yes commissioner Taylor yes deputy director Romero yes director Soo yes resolution 20241 164 resolution amending 2023 568 entitled resolution authorizing submission and acceptance of child advocacy development grants Treatment Services programs technology and Capital Improvements for the count Cumberland County prosecutor's office do I have a motion and second move second questions or comments commissioner Al yes commissioner LS yes commissioner s yes commissioner Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes deputy director Romero yes director Soo yes resolution 20241 165 resolution amending 2023 601 entitled resolution authorizing Grant agreement with New Jersey Department of Transportation for 2023 Federal Road program faap 2023 Cumberland County one do I have a motion and second so move questions or comments Comm commissioner Al yes commissioner LS yes commissioner Saro yes commissioner Maron yes commissioner Taylor yes deputy director yes director SEO yes resolution 20241 166 resolution authorizing Cumberland County to accept amended joint bankruptcy plan to Endo International PLC concerning opioid claim do I have a motion and second move second questions or comments yeah I have question of this is this how's this affect our our buddy would receive in the group for the opioid settlement so this is one uh that's a very small fraction of the settlement that you got but there was a wave of bankruptcies um course so this was on recommendation of council handling the collection of the opid um funds saying that this is the Your Best Shot to collect maximum I don't have a dollar amount all that but but we're this the receiving of money we're going to continue whatever money they put aside for the bankruptcy we're going to still get the money it's just water okay this is stretched over so many years is that correct corre any further questions or comments commissioner Albright yes commissioner loads yes commissioner s commissioner marshan yes commissioner Taylor deputy director Romero yes director SEO yes resolution 20241 167 resolution amending resolution 20241 appointing commissioner Antonio Romero and commissioner Sandra Taylor as leaon to the Cumberland County Board of Elections do I have a motion in second move second questions or comments commissioner Al yes commissioner loads yes commissioner SAR yes commissioner marshan yes commissioner Taylor yes deputy director Romero yes director SEO yes resolution 20246 8 resolution awarding a contract for providing middle mile grant program Engineering Services for the counties of Cumberland and Salem RFP number 23-45 do I have a motion and second so move second questions or comments yeah I'd like to make a comment the uh i m richway started this that uh I understand that this shall not exceed this number but they bid on this number if this project continues I assume they're if they're going to do what we've asked them to do they're going to get paid the money they they are paid so there might be little things from different parts of it that they might not do but uh this is going to get us to the design fa phase of this project which is a key because design makes everything go the if the design is done well the construction goes easier so it's this is a I have not seen the the company itself these a lot of the members here have seen this company really uh like what their uh what they represent what they bring to the table and what and their own history of projects they've been involved with uh they've been very successful so hopefully with that mind and then looking at our project they make our projects accessible as they desired it and then get the construction there is a time frame for this project it's not this is not a pipe tream 10 years from now there is a ticking time that the federal government wants this done which is two years and we're well within that we're proceeding that way in that time frame so thanks any prate questions or comments I guess comment that I would have and Mr R can correct me if I'm wrong all that being said this will be there will be Benchmark set and we'll be keeping a tight view to see how the process is going along we're certainly not cutting a check as Mr Soro said earlier for $3.5 million we're going to be keeping a tight rain on it to see exactly what's going on per the benchmark correct yeah they don't proceed until we tell them to in in what fashion that's thank you commissioner commissioner Al yes commissioner loads yes commissioner sorrow yes commissioner Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes deputy director rero yes director SEO yes resolution 202 24-1 169 resolution ratifying and confirming the award of a fair and open contract for providing vaccination services for the board of Health RFP number 23-7 do I have a motion in second second questions or comments commissioner Al yes commissioner LS yes commissioner Soro yes commissioner marshan yes commissioner Taylor yes deputy director Romero yes director Soo yes that's all treasur report please we've been waiting for this yeah I can't wait to talk about about the same numbers this is an incredibly boring report sorry for everyone in the public table all right so we began the month of January a cash balance at 26,1 14,960 38 cash receipts of5 m9101 19442 dispersements of 8,576 7627 ending the month with a balance of 23,44 18653 itemized list of Investments grand total of 61,62 33259 so that was the boring part now the fun update part um so our as part of our year-end procedures we have to file an annual financial statement with the state division local government services that has been done the annual debt statement has been done the uh budget has been reviewed with finance committee and is for recommendation to the board um I need to figure out when that's going to take place my thought is at the work session in March and then adop in the work session in April that way it's its own thing at its own meeting not talk down with all the voting resolutions um I have to figure out how to get my hour and a half presentation down so unless we want to do that again but I got to try and cut down a bit because I know I rambled for a very long time last year so just wanted to give the board that update I'm going to send an email to all the board members of the budget summary every bureaucratic resolution that will be placed before you on the um March work session and if there's any questions the finance committee have been uh met with already so any other board members if you want to meet in advance of the introduction or in advance of the final public hearing let good with me uh my schedule's open trying to get this done before July when I have a Ki so we're trying to get this done quickly motion and second you can adopt the treasures report I'll make the motion second all in favor do I have a motion in second for authorizing payment of all salaries and wages I'll make the motion second all in favor do I have a motion in second to open public comment second favor [Music] okay good evening I'm here in person now I was just flying hi I'm Nancy richway from up with Deerfield and Fairfield townships um I would like to know if under the open public meetings act are you really supposed to be using your cell phones in a meeting when this is a public meeting can I know what you're doing on your cell phones I mean I'm supposed to know what's going on in here good question I know solic you want to answer it now we going to take notes no I'm I'm saying that question is that well okay that's a okay that's a very good question Mr R anything else well if I can open your cell phones then I'm going to make a recommendation that you leave your cell phones outside the room before you come in here okay so that's two questions all right now that was a recommendation well it's a consideration yes anything else I'm thinking I got five minutes got five minutes pleas say about my senior moment here hi everybody good to see a few room sorry I was late but um yeah that's the main one is about your cell phone usage during a public meeting okay let's work on that thank you anyone else Chuck Abino director for the Department of Corrections I just wanted to um inform I guess both the Commissioners and the public at the same time not sure I think most of the Commissioners would be aware that we are subject to an annual inspection of the jail every year by the New Jersey Department of Corrections it's part of the oversight that they provide and we just completed it's a rather in-depth inspection they're there for a week involves I think somewhere in the neighbor to 5 600 standards and um last year uh we just completed it this year and I'm pleased and um want to congratulate my staff particularly Warden rins and uh Captain brag and Captain Martinez's assisted well but primarily the warden and Captain brag um we passed all of our standards we have eight that still need a little bit of work um just um most of them are very minor issues they'll come back and do the reinspection and just to give you some uh comparison last year we spent uh we had I think 30 38 or 39 that were in non-compliance initially and it took us two additional reinspection most of the nine that were not in compliance this year are relatively minor issues that we should have resolved without much U problem so it's you know I wanted to congratulate my staff and also notify you publicly of how well we did this year so thank you sir congratulate you congratulations that's a very refreshing comment coming from come back every um during the the meeting here um I I think you mentioned that since we had the largest jail we amount amount of inmates most amount of inmates population oh okay did I also or did I hear someone say that we were going to be using this jail in that project or would the project be completely separate from this jail okay we'll we'll we'll address that again after any your question any other questions no that was it okay all right that's good question thank you Mr you got a hot the cot right Sandy ASO upper de Township um Can somebody explain the details around the resolution 2024 130 and 141 what we're resending and what we're replacing it with and why there's a need for um you know a need for it period which two did you say 130 and 141 okay and on 168 how many um proposals did we get for that they're in theed they're in the back here all right thanks anyone else speak now hold your piece as they say I you want to go back up yeah you got two and a half minutes now considered double dipping that's right that's right double dipping hi I'm Nancy richway from Upper Deerfield Fairfield townships we go after a lot of grant money and there was grant money available for the Board of Elections to get a storage building and I'd like to know if that grant money is still available okay all right do I have a motion anyone else would like to get up and speak first can I have a motion then to close public second all in favor I all right CL open up the cellones is the question of the day that's correct y yeah so certainly you as a board are for wared right that your phone activity is best taking place on your county phone device and that the messages the phone logs all that ts are all subject to open everybody already knows that um I don't know of any current law about use in meetings because the paper and the pencil have gone by the way of notes kept on cell phones so sitting here I don't have the perfect answer but I will take it under revisement and Report um but I believe that what we're going to find out is I actually see judges now back in the day they used to if your phone came out in court your phone would go away right B get the phone you remember this but at this point in time I see judges with phones and that they have notes that they put on their phone that they're using to assist them because they're insid in our business lives but I will report so and the younger generation uses it much more than I still go no longer it's no longer just a communication device it's also information storage and access and I know there are times that I sat before you and look stuff up or tried to find companies so that the meeting can flow in a smoother fashion but I will we're going to we're not going to investigate that we're not going to get rid of the issue we're going to keep going but that's my initial thought is there anybody else on never that um so that's number one uh number 130 was the next one uh so I can one resolution 130 I know the most about probably and that would be um my misunderstanding when Carlos endar came on board he was listed as a employe and he should have been listed as a vendor as a so we correcting that record he was never paid incorrectly uh but it was a it was a record that was extent at the county could be it came before youall that yeah so uh I was then corrected he is now a vendor and from what I understand a successful everybody's happy that's the answer to how 130 came before you thank you and the next one was 140 131 41 which is the same same thing all right so then the last Mo was 168 you didn't complete the question though I was asking what the need was the ass just explained so what I said is car andar was hired in correctly as an employee but he should have been hired as a vendor right so that's what the correction was that why do we need an attorney over there that because they're handling child support matters in court almost every day for us and it used to be a full-time employee and now it is a vendor on a part-time basis we actually saving money well she's saving about $40,000 a year something again fiscally responsible all right um and the other question was the Board of Elections the grant now I don't I can't answer that I would think U either Mr Ridgeway or we have to have Mr rley have to answer here anyeth is here yes oh there you [Music] go I don't think my is loud I really didn't want to scream I guess I could have gotten up sorry Nancy no I'm just kidding no um so far as far as we know from the state they require that we get three quotes um I was told by purchasing that we wouldn't be able to get official quotes because we would need a bid and for a bid we need commitment from the state the state again can't commit unless we get the quotes so right now it's stand still is at a stand still and I honestly believe that because we waited so long that they will not give us any money well we are totally left in the dark we did open 3,000 ft of space in our old the juvenile center uh for you which relieved a lot where you could store machines is that correct or yes we did so you do have we did and we do we do have that and we do appreciate it and it's already filled okay it's already filled and unfortunately right now you know as far as our office space in itself you know we have office staff with very small desks on the side because we don't have space to officially put them on a proper desk okay very good thank you you're welcome all right I think that brings the answers to a close can we move forward no there was the one about the reference to our jail oh yes I'm sorry yes my apologies I didn't take every privileg in again today sorry Speak to that well if you wish sure um so certainly at this point what we're focusing on is the main jail building which is uh situate in Salem would appear uh but our jail building is is an asset you could say or at least some sections of it um but I can't tell you what that's going to come to at this point um but it is something on the table so for instance if uh each County rolls in then presumably their transportation Vans right would be offered up as an asset into the the group as well as any building space certainly all the employees with every employee each county has we're still going to be hiring is the anticipation but as to the structure itself it's it's an open basically it's an open-ended question at this point in time because we do have to make the transition from this jail to the new jail once it's been you know and added on to so we need to have our inmates somewhere at this point now in the meantime there are other needs for the county and these are the things we're relying on the wardens the prosecutors to see you know what else is needed you know and we're not the experts in un unfortunately the jail business but we will be weren't happy to facilitate any needs that are needed a youth facility or or anything of that nature I can't there's so many things on the board right now I can't mention it the most out of the box idea that's been floated has been a youth facility because you're spending about $300 a night for youth is that right last 286 was one of them okay so $286 a night and we're having a hard time placing around the but that's a far off that is not the job warant no there's a lot of different things out there but certainly not going to be demolished just to demolish right which is why we've been keeping it up yeah that's why director has been so uh Vigilant to get things up and part up the par and now that jail is looking pretty darn good put and put lipstick on a pig right there Mr Lino this is off let's not call her name to us she is ISS not a good place to night is that Hotel 6 no not yet not quite but we do leave the light on commissioner yeah um I I think what's imperative that everybody realizes how important uh this negotiation is with Salem County uh we're going to go tomorrow to look at theil I'm going get a guide through it um if you look at the check dispersements this month all right between what we're paying Hudson County and the RX for prisoners comes to 1 cent just that one cent on the tax dollar that's a lot of money so so if people don't think we need to do this and they're completely wrong this is something that we have to work at and I really do believe this board is doing everything possible to expedite what's going on here so I I want to give everybody uh credit that is you know either the people that are going tomorrow to see the jail or all the support that this board's giv to have this work because as I said just those two things that's one on a doll I mean once that on on taxes and that's just Hudson County that's not even what we're paying for for the our our young people children y so this is something that I believe is very important and uh I think this board should be uh very happy with what it's done took a long time to put this together so okay with that said have a motion to close Comm comments commission vet okay we have to close did it did it so then commissioner com start with theion well the T the de B show Council just uh many things they're they're trying to make sure they spread out more members uh people T they've reached out to uh to Senator Booker staff to make sure they attend usually they do attend those meetings uh and they're also look at our new assembly people at the third and the Senate to attend those Bay Council these people are all volunteers and um it is a the bay Council tackles issues that uh with the DP everybody knows how frustr frustrating is to deal with them on issues or fight something that they're they're uh putting out there these guys are the ones that do it it affects our whole bottom of our the county so uh I I we should congratulate that for what they do the job they do every day as volunteers to to tackle whatever issue comes from the state so um I say thank you for doing that thank you for volunteering um the cultural inheritage uh commission had a meeting uh Miss L would commissioner L would probably do a lot more how it is I get my foot first step into it uh they uh seem very aggressive they seem on top of stuff um uh we have new members coming on board for that so we should have a full full staff I hope shortly and they do a lot of uh through this County a lot of things you see and I'll just point out one that pops on my head the statues on uh land of Sav people saw that stuck out which were actually pretty impressive how these things just happened well the culture Heritage what uh brought them here they were bought least right now they're God I saw today they were God but pretty special and I'll give it one personal thing that a friend of mine came in who was born and raised in violent came in from Japan and he he said take me take me to some of this change so I said well we'll come to the Landa steer so he comes and he goes he looks at the trumpet player in front of the theater he's like oh my God this is violent this is the happen he was so impressed the pictures he set up back to Japan to show people it I mean just Steve was very little very small but it was very uh deep to him that he saw all his home tal do something off the wall culture and Heritage did that and you can make comments other things in C um the library is trying to get the word out of that of our new Branch uh in moris Township is coming together uh it's the first thing first time we're actually opening up I've said it several times this board has said it this commission uh they that's the per that's what they're trying to down to let people know what's coming and they plan to be very be a lot of needs that are not being need being met and the first one that comes to mind is that people give a bathroom in front that they can wash their hands from a trip being around the southern part of County uh a laboratory to go to uh but places where people can host stuff our staff can have a satellite office to go down to meet people to southern part of the County Tackle problems there they have a place to work at them our Jet Jet is very uh our director of the libraryies very uh has a lot of ideas how to make this something special and the greatest thing the best thing is that literacy uh it's going to affect the literacy in the lower C part of our County because they have no Library facilities and when I say library it's not a traditional Library more it's a Setter uh so uh pretty special so um good thank you commissioner thank you Commission busy busy busy um lot of meetings I went to um Zoom meetings with little mile Zoom meetings with the jail Zoom meetings with the down Township um a lot of things I can't really speak out because there's there's a lot of money involved and that type of thing but I've been very busy at that the uh I'm on different boards the U Recreation Commission I'm on and I'm really happy to be on that they have a lot of ideas that we we we've been tossing around at that first meeting these first meetings I've been going to I'm actually sitting back just listening just to learn of what's going on but uh with the uh Recreation Commission uh everybody knows and if you don't this board is very into trying to create a Recreation Commission where we have places where people can go well we were looking into where we would have something like three we haven't run it across the board yet only because it's just in It's just in the discussion stag with the recreation committee um you know something that might be in bridon something that might be in the center of the county and something that might be in B and milville this is something where we can spread it out throughout the county so people can go walk be with their children be with their animals uh get fresh air they're finding out that that may help you out a little bit which will bring out you know the health situation in the county which we've already raised it from 21st to now 20 and we're even moving that up so we're moving forward with that I'm also on the youth services advisory council with commissioner Lo and U yes um um I'll be there uh and again this is something that I'm learning again I was on it a number of years ago it has to do with our youth and the believe me when I tell you it's a great uh great committee to be on so I I can't wait to even learn more I'm I'm working on the acronyms when they start I have no it's it's an amazing thing they start talking and I I guess yeah okay in fact the very first time I ever went to one of these board meetings at the end they said to me commissioner uh what do you think I said could you please give me the pages of acronyms that you use and I thought maybe it was going to be a page it was like three pages of AC so again you you learn a lot and I I still have a lot to learn when it comes to that to that board but we're moving forward and I'm very very proud to be on this board thank you let's go down the other side commissioner Marsh thank you as Mr commissioner s pointed out uh very busy as a new board member here for two months I've been appointed to be a liaison to a number of different boards I'm learning a lot I'm meeting a lot of new people I'm even coming across some old people that I knew in the past and reconnecting with them I'm trying to listen I'm trying to learn and being able to uh bring various things to Cumberland County but this may be completely off topic tonight's just happen to be a very special night for me have to be my mom's birthday so I just have to say happy birthday to my mom anyone that knows or knows what a loving caring fantastic person she was she was a teacher at Hell Elementary for 37 years very beloved over there I couldn't ask for a better mom more supportive so happy birthday Mom I hope you enjoyed your day good son I don't know if she's watching I would doubt if she is commissioner Taylor thank you well as a new commissioner it's a learning experience as um Jim and have stated I've had the opportunity to attend the Board of Health meeting and I'll tell you if if you do have the time to sit in Zoom I know Mrs Ridgeway was on the call um for a a period of time but that board is very active in pursuing grants they are um getting a vehicle they've waited I think a couple years and so now they're all excited about their new vehicle I've I also um attended the Agricultural Development board meeting there again so learning experience you sit back you listen and uh I they have public um an opportunity for the public to attend so I invite you all to attend the next meeting it's it's very informative thank you okay commission all right good evening everyone uh so my focus is really health and education and um I'm now thank you very much commissioner for putting me on the mental health Advisory Board as well um that's something that I really enjoyed and I think all of these things go really hand inand to improving the climate and the quality of life that we have here in Cumberland County and that is my goal as an educator as a mother as somebody with a lot of history in this County and I want to be able to see future Generations stay here and Thrive here and more people come here and not leave these things are really important to me so um I have to say that I have to give um my hat off to Melissa Niles um so in the mental health Advisory Board first of all you're on like so many boards that I'm on I see you there all the time but um the ideas that you are constantly coming up with to really try to help people uh who are struggling with addiction with mental health services I have my hat goes off to you um recently you just came up with coming up with I guess a Lunch Bunch um which I think is really great um it's a way for mental health professionals to kind of get together on a regular basis and collaborate and any any of you who are Professionals in this room and all of you you know that when you get together with other Professionals in your field that's only helps you to grow right you share ideas you thrive off of one another and that's how we really get better at what we do so I'm so glad that you created a platform for that um also I know you guys are working on a grief booklet sadly we continue to um be rising in the numbers of losing people to overdose in Cumberland County um and I am no stranger to that concept at all um and so I'd like to formally tell you um can I please be on your committee to help with the Greek booklet so um I think that's a fantastic thing and that's a really direct Outreach to our families and people in need in this County so thank you for doing that and I'm happy to be a part of that uh I will go on to culture and Heritage and yes commissioner alre you are correct that is a very busy board we are a nine member board um and so we we have a lot of people and what's really exciting about that board is everybody has sort of a different facet um in the Arts world in the culture of Cumberland County because there is so much we are so culturally Rich here uh so we are when I will mention what you mentioned about the um the statues the sculptures that were on Landis Avenue that was part of a grant actually that culture and Heritage had given to Vinland downtown and they were able to sort of pivot the funds it was originally supposed to be for a mural and they were able to allow that um concession to Pivot and use some of them for the sculptures to bring art and culture to downtown urban areas and I was really happy that the board was able to sort of make that pivot where it made sense um also we are working with the state Arts cultural Alliance um with the Arts connector program and this was a pilot program that they did last year and basically what that meant was that we had an individual who was in the art World here in Cumberland County and would host events with kind of do Outreach to sort of try to uplift other artists um in the county who were creating amazing things and try to show them how to feature their art how to Market their art how to become a little bit more so we did just name a new connector um who is a Hispanic artist here in Cumberland County and we're hoping to have different Outreach to make more um to kind of create more diverse artists in Cumberland County because I I know that there are so many incredible artists I've worked at Bron high school for eight years I know we have some incredible artists come out of there that were creating murals right here in downtown bridon so I'm really excited to see what this connector Pro uh connect new connector is able to do um also uh we're going to talk a little bit more tonight I believe um about our County Park and yes Recreation was a big goal for us um getting into public service for me as well and maybe it doesn't sound like a huge deal but it is Cumberland county is the only county in the state of New Jersey without a County Park and while you might think wow we have so much open space we have Parks everywhere we don't actually have a county park in Cumberland County and we are very much working to change that so there have been updates um planned and scheduled for our County Fairgrounds Park um an expansion off of that to include all kinds of really exciting things um Trails outdoor classrooms indigenous Gardens things like this that not only are giving us an open space for people to recreate but are helping the environment and also will further a unique diverse education okay um is that me to hurry up and lastly I apologize um but I do want to say that um we gave our County uh our state of the county update this past week and I appreciate that commissioner CIO and we had Dr keing there as well and I just really want to highlight the partnership ship that this county has engaged with with rcsj and it's been a really amazing partnership just this month we had um rcsj partner with our vinand Public School District to make vinent a Collegiate High School and yes we do have dual credit programs in all of our high schools but now this makes it a much more intimate process where students don't just have to follow this path and graduate with an associates degree but now we actually have rcsj in our guidance Department actually guiding our students right there um take a class maybe one maybe two what whatever they're able to bite off instead of the entire associates degree and putting too much on our students that maybe they can't handle and there's only four of these pilot programs in the state of New Jersey so I'm so glad that rcsj decided to partner with um one of our schools here in the county and also June 1st we have um our school of Osteopathic Medicine which is opening up on the rcsj campus very much looking forward to that we're going to have addiction medicine there we have the cares program for neglected children we have the Risen program for Health Services um and we are partnered with virtual health system so basically that's kind of the Capstone to that EDS and meds Corridor which is going to really just fuel the economic development that can happen here in Cumberland County and we already have the quality of life to go with it with the education and with our Recreation so that is my update give a teacher the floor and look what you get right I forgot my power point I to put it on my phone I commissioner Romero please well well enough has been said right um I just last this week I went to uh last week I went to Doss uh had a great time talking to all the employees uh L show me around I spoke with every employee I I was you know that wasn't there and uh supervisors and one thing you know seeing a lot less complaints a lot of more happy people so I I I there's a bright side to all this also while I was there I was uh talking to a little a little girl that I knew about when she was 3 years old luciao custodio and uh she happens to retire this week for after 30 years in in service to our County so I was very happy to you know to see her do well and go on we're going to miss her because what we actually two three I think we three people short now after she leaves in that department and uh but this is something we're working on very strong uh and Luc is working on it uh to really get people to stay used to be a career job to work for Social Service nowadays uh we losing 25 to 30 some employees a year and we need to improve that that's they that's a very important uh facing our community uh social services and we cannot longer continue that you know it takes a lot of time to train people uh we put a lot of money into them and and and then they they leave so I was very happy to see Lucio uh you know uh retire tied and spent 30 years and this is the way to go this is the this is what we we work for we work for people to make careers out of our County and and hopefully some of our kids will come back and give us back in our count in our communities in our County which is very important well that's that's about all I have to say today so thank you commissioner all I'm not going to keep you guys alone cuz I anybody wants to go on so um first of all I would like to touch upon the r College of South tourism and the collaboration do them and V high school um it's it's a great new program where kids can actually students can actually find out you know what they're interested in you know even before they get out of school um and do they want to go into college do you want to go to the trades it's very important when I droke when I that I gave the state the county I said you know when I was at high school I was a wrestler I had no idea what I wanted to do I got got went to college and I ended up being an art major I couldn't even drw so I had no I had no Direction but then I became a business major and decided out what I was going to do but I wasted a whole semester thinking about these kind of things and it was ridiculous and this is the kind of thing that is great for these children today you know to get a pathway find find out which way they want to go and then take it as you know Yi bar used to say used to say you find a fork in the road you take it well lot of times you know they don't even know how to take so that's number one number two um it's we have a school of advanced manufacturing that we're working on right now also well in college it's in the infant stage looking at grant money to u to bring it together and this again this is something that's going to help economic development for the area because we have two beautiful resources in this County one we have Beauty we have beautiful waterways we have a beautiful water front down at foris skew and not down that way we have a lot of beautiful nature areas but we also want to retain that preserve it but we also want to have places where our children and our can graduate college and stay within the county this is very important because we have an exodus in Cumberland County and in New Jersey much higher than in other states we need to start retaining our children in in in our in our area and have give them good working excuse me good jobs that good paying jobs to help them work and play and live here and hopefully to go chasing your kids all in California to go see your grandson or your granddaughter so that's important um two the biggest thing is we started um within all the Commissioners an ambassador program this is very important for the Mayers to um to take hold of each commission there's two Commissioners per Township and municipality uh that are assigned so we will be sending out an email to all the mayors that each commissioner will be assigned to that particular Township and to our city the reason for this is because there's got to be a direct connection between the the Mayors the councilmen and your committee members directly with the with the county and this is important so I want to that's going to go out this this week I made the assignments because I went under basically what they're what they whether they're not even known so that's a little bit important thing to understand is that when a commissioner comes into your area he may not have been from your area before but he'll learn real quickly what your needs are because he's not tainted in any way it's very important for them to know that so that's that's that's one of the things we're doing so ambassador program for the counties is going to come out very shortly and last but not least I spoke briefly about the contracts retaining good people is so important you pay them well they'll do the job and they'll be happy in those positions we have a lot of employees within the county itself but we have a lot of them outside the county we've done a lot of good things so far with settling contracts and again I want to give my condolences EXC my own s my congratulatory um statement to Paige Jeff John I'm over five minutes one minute I have one minute okay all right and I just so I guess we all going to go anyway the point is that I want to keep these jobs in place and give people a good place to work so we can go out and say hey look I live in crumland County I work in crumland County I work for crumland County and I'm a pretty happy happy employee and we're working on that time and time again so thank you very much good night everybody all right do do not have executive session we don't have any reason for executive session do all right do I have a motion tojn thank you for [Music] com this has been a QBC television production in association with our partners and sponsors QBC broadcasts on Comcast cable channel 22 and live streams its programming on Facebook and YouTube All Rights Reserved by Quin media and QBC programming that serves the South Jersey Market